Kona- More photo fun. Race report coming soon!!

We arrived home yesterday afternoon after travelling for nearly 24 hours and sleeping none of them. (Ok, maybe 20 min here and there. But that is IT!)  We were all in some sort of fog yesterday but we did make it to Tommy's soccer game, Mark mowed the lawn, I went to the grocery store, we cooked a big healthy meal and then finally, bed. To lay flat on my bed rather than torqued in an airplane seat felt Amaaaaaaaaaazing. In fact, it is still feeling amazing to my kids because Nick and Tommy are STILL in bed! It's 10:00! Unreal. Poor Cam was plucked out of his at 8:30 in order to get to a soccer game.

I am almost ready to spend time relivving my race day and putting it into words.  I need a period of uninterrupted writing to do that so I may need to wait for the kids to go back to school tomorrow. It's coming.... I can't wait to get it on paper so I can look back at the memories of the day.  For now, here are more photos from our wonderful vacation in Hawaii. Maine in October is probably my favorite place on earth. The sky juggles between bright sun and dark shades of purple. The leaves are colorful on the trees and crunchy on the ground. The air is crisp and homes are cozy inside.  That said, the white sands, clear surf, bright sun and relaxed mood on the Kona Coast were the perfect recovery for what's been an intense 12 months for me. Starting last October, I have been training hard. First, I prepped for a January marathon. Then I moved immediately into Ironman Lake Placid training. After a 3-4 day rest following that insanely awesome race, I hit the roads to get this body ready for the 'big show' in Kona last week.  ahhh..... you can be sure I relaxed as intensely as I trained over the past week. I slept a lot, drank some, ate too much with very little focus on healthy foods, and cleared my mind. When looking at these pictures I think you can see how that might have been easy to do where I was lucky enough to hang out last week!!! 

Now, back to reality. The air is cool, my tan is fading and the 'to do' list is growing. I'm happy to be home. And I was so so lucky to be in Hawaii. 



 This captures how I spent days 1,2, 3 post-race. I couldn't walk anyway and my ankles/feet/legs were totally swollen so hey, why not just lay in the sand and chill, right? (Hapuna Beach)

Tommy ran and splashed the Entire week.

 This has to be our favorite shot. Tommy and Nick. Nick is the upside down boy with frog legs.  This photo is hysterical when you zoom in close.   The water doesnt' even look deep enough there for him to be in this position!  It captures their fun pretty well I think.

 This is a beach we found in 2009. You must drive ~2 miles over lava rocks to find it. It's remote and quiet. The sand is speckled with coral everywhere...

Tommy cruised around looking for more giant sea turtles. He popped his head up periodically for air, just like the turtles.

Proof that I just sat around with my feet in the sand.

 The snorkel beach south of Kona that we drove to one day. You enter by jumping off the shore that is actually lava. I can't remember the name of it... I'll find it later.  We found that we saw the most fish and turtles right out the door of our condo at Kahaluu beach. 

driving down a long long road to one of the black sand beaches.

All 4 of my boys playing in the surf.

Nick was dwarfed by most of the waves. 

FUN! ( mark and Nick)

My last day on the island. Mary and I relaxed and discussed our big days.

I love this because it shows how clear the water was. 

the Family...

Our last breakfast at Lava Java... I miss that place already. Yum!!!

We cruised around in a cool red jeep all week...the boys took every opportunity to climb out and sit on top.

My favorite beach...

Tommy- an outside meal at the Canoe Club

more stories and pictures coming soon!!